$14.00, Trade Paper, ISBN: 0-345- 38146-7, Ballantine Books

J. F. Bierlein wrote Parallel Myths for the person "who would not normally think about mythology, let alone read a book on the subject." It was written as an "invitation to the reading of myths and recognizing the mythic in our daily lives." Readers of Joseph Campbell will be familiar with much of the material here, but it is organized more rigorously and presented in an introductory manner.

Published as a Ballantine trade paperback original, it is aimed at all types of readers as well as scholars. It is organized according to topics such as creation, death, love and the apocalypse. It introduces the twelve Olympians of Greek mythology, as well as the Norse pantheon and mysterious gods of India, deities of Native Americans, the Chinese, the Egyptian Ennead, and cultures of Africa and Oceania. The book compares common themes woven through all these cultures. The cross-cultural parallel myths demonstrate-according to Bierlein-that, whether an ocean or century apart, "human beings everywhere have much in common."

WISDOM STORIES: Meditations on Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends, by Robert M. Hoffstein

$16.95, Trade Paper, ISBN 0-913002-03- 08, Tsimtsum House

Don't pass this book by-just because it has a plain black and white cover and seems so unobtrusive! This book is a treasure. It will delight everyone, and will be valuable to even the most highly specialized researcher-he it in the field of literature, mythology, or psychology. It's thorough as well as highly readable. Recommended for all ages. Offered here is a broad cross section of literature-from fairy tales to tales from the Bible, nursery rhymes, the Arabian Nights, Greek myths, and so on.

For the most part, the author assumes that the reader has familiarity with the stories themselves from other sources, but he does, for each entry, retell the story-in such a way that the central core comes through. His emphasis is on the universal transformational quality of all these stories. He provides insights into nursery rhymes that bring light to their seeming obscurity. In his introduction, Hoffstein states: "Inside the child there is a little old man, and inside the little old man there is a child. That is why Hickery Dickery Dock is so enchanting and why the Christ story inspires the child in me. Life is actually playing these roles, assuming the forms of Rumpelstilzchen and Rama, Humpty Dumpty and the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, explaining to you in words and singing to you in song the Story of Creation."

ONCE UPON A MIDLIFE Classic Stone's and Mythic Tales to Illuminate the Middle years, by Allan B. Chinen, M.D.

$12.95 Trade Paper, ISBN 0-87477-725-9, Tarcher/Putnam

Collected by a practicing psychiatrist, this book of tales addresses psychological and social issues of the middle years.. such as what happens after the princess and prince marry in the classical fairy tale motif.

Using the tradition of Bruno Bettleheim's The Uses of Enchantment, Dr. Chinen develops out an extensive commentary adapted to each individual tale. The tales themselves explore dilemmas such as settling down to careers and marriage, male/female differences, dealing with crises, childlessness, facing mortality and seeking renewal. Their aim is to teach the reader what to expect in the middle years and how to deal with these concerns so that the second half of life will be enhanced. This book will be both attractive and useful to counselors and psychotherapists, as well as anyone interested in Jungian psychology and/or mythology and folk literature.

FREED BY CHOICE, edited by Helen Wirth

$14.95, Trade Paper, ISBN: 0-9632374-4-6, Fall Creek Press

Fourth in the ongoing VeriTales series, Freed By Choice is a 192-page book of short stories called "not so fictional tales that quietly remind us whether in prison or paradise we choose where we live."

VeriTales, itself, is a series of books by Fall Creek press aimed for readers with evolving spirits. They are written simply and each tale has a message. Each of the stories is meant to inspire the reader as the characters overcome very real problems which are written about in an intensely personal and realistic style-the one that comes to mind is the story of a woman who wakes up on the floor of her bathroom following a massive stroke. In another, an Episcopal priest faces his own reluctance to feel loved and accepted by God while counseling another priest following his stay in India where the poverty of the people had shaken his trust and belief in the Deity.

This should be a successful series. Although inspiring, these stories do not strictly qualify as religious fiction, and certainly not as fantasy or fairy tales-they are VeriTales-very real tales. Their slant is actually along the lines of humanism-it's the human characters that count-even as they wrestle with spiritual crises and developments. This would be an interesting series of books to use in a classroom setting-adult creative writing or psychology counseling classwork comes to mind-as well as being appropriate for a general reading audience.

There are three other story collections available in the VeriTales series. These include: Veritales: Beyond the Norm, Veritales: Note of Hope, Veritales: Ring of Truth.

-Janna Hart

©1996 Gateways Books and Tapes